The Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) has berated the Southern Governors Forum for insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor must come from their region.
Speaking to DailyPost, AYCF National President, Yerima Shettima asked the governors to put their heads down and lobby other regions instead of trying to impose their resolution.
He stated that the north would mobilise the people of the region to get their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) to vote for a presidential candidate from the region.
According to him, the north would look for a candidate that would be the president of all Nigerians and not just for the south.
Shettima pointed out that since politics is a game of numbers, the North would mobilise and ensure they produced Nigeria’s next president.
He said: “We will mobilize our people to get their PVCs because democracy is all about numbers and we will get the numbers that will give us the next president of this country, no going back on it.
“Southern governors need to bring their heads down and lobby, let’s talk, agree and bargain because democracy is all about lobbying, understanding and respect for one another, not by intimidating anybody.
“We would push for Nigeria’s president from Northern extraction, we are not looking for Southern presidency the way they are looking for it, we are looking for the president of the country from Northern extraction.
“He would be experienced, youthful with capacity and something to offer and we will build synergy.”
On the ban on open grazing, the AYCF National President urged Northern governors to make provisions for herdsmen to return to the North and continue their business.
Shettima also charged northern governors to make laws that would stop Southerners residing in the North from engaging in ‘negative businesses’.
“The issue of open grazing is a personal issue, so if at the end of the day, the governors feel they don’t want anybody to graze within their territory, then they have that right to do so.
“But, the Northern governors will also look into other sectors and businesses owned by Southerners that portray negativity to our youths in the North. They should make a law that would stop them.
“The Northern governors should be courageous enough to produce lands for them so they can bring back their cattle back to the North to do their grazing,” he said.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News